Monthly Archives: February 2004

John Perricone was the first blogger I ever talked to when I started Bronx Banter. John is from the Bronx but has lived on the west coast for some years, and concentrates on all things involving the S.F. Giants in his blog, “Only Baseball Matters.” Perricone took some time off from blogging last season, but now he’s back, and the site looks better than ever. Head on over.

Ciepley doesn’t see the discrimination that the first openly gay ballplayer will face from homophobic fans and teammates as the worst of his potential troubles:

To me, the biggest encumbrance will be fame – specifically, fame within the gay community. A gay ballplayer would make nationwide news, but he would be of much greater stature among queers: he would instantly become one of the most significant gay figures in all of American history. The impact of this cannot be understated. Openly gay sportsmen and women are expected to be spokespeople, and a gay athlete in the national past time would be acclaimed like no one before him. He would have Visa and Mastercards with his mug on them, he would be expected to pop up at rallies and parades, and cover stories would appear in The Advocate and Out, if not Time and Newsweek.

And with the fame would come criticicm. In this case, not the heckling fans and boorish teammates, but the carping from within the gay community. Martina Navratilova was seen as too “mannish” for some gays’ tastes, just as there was a misplaced fear that Greg Louganis’ outing would only reinforce stereotypes that all gay men had AIDS. These digs will be vastly outnumbered by the hero chants, of course, but they are the attacks that will have the greatest sting. No one expects to be bashed by the people whose cause you support.

The challenges a gay ballplayer would face may seem obvious at first, starting with the need to gain acceptance from your teammates and fans. But to an out player’s surprise, the hardest audience of all may not be in the locker room or stadium. It may be the throng of Gay America that welcomes the player as he steps out the closet door, eager to embrace, herald, and scrutinize him at every turn.

Great stuff from Ciepley. If you haven’t already, make Ball Talk one of your regular stops in blogland, regardless of whether or not you is Queer or a Cubs fan.

The Yankees don’t generally offer their players contract extensions. But with Mariano Rivera in the final year of a four-year deal, it would behoove the Yankees to lock up their ace closer sooner rather than later. At 34, you could argue that Rivera is too old to pay $8 million plus for another two or three years. But like Derek Jeter, Rivera has been the face of the Yankees’ latest championship run. He is coming off of one of his best seasons, and it says here, that he is worth the gamble. (Hey, it’s only George’s money, right?) Both The Daily News and The New York Post feature articles on Rivera’s future this morning. According to the News:

“We haven’t talked yet, but I think we can get to some agreement on an extension. I feel good, and I want to remain a Yankee,” Rivera said after a mid-morning workout at the Yanks’ minor-league complex yesterday.

When Rivera signed the four-year deal in 2001, he mentioned that he would leave baseball when the contract ran out, and turn his attention to Religion. Also, Rivera was reportedly upset with the Yankees for letting Andy Pettitte walk last fall. But for now, he would like to stay in New York. But for how long?

“I don’t know, maybe three more years, a chance to put some more more numbers there,” said Rivera, the Yanks’ all-time leader in saves with 283. “Like I said, I want to win another World Series before I go, and we have a chance. When you’re with the Yankees, you always have a lot of opportunity.”

You could argue that the Yankees could do without Rivera after 2004, but my guess is that most Yankee fans would rather see Rivera in New York for another couple of years. Part of me would rather see Rivera retire or move on instead of watching him decline in New York, but again, Rivera was terrific last year, and perhaps he’ll still be very good for another couple of seasons. The other part of me–the protective part–wants Rivera to be a life-long Yankee, regardless of the results from here on out. I think most Yankee fans will be happy taking their chances with Mo: case closed.

You know, the first time I ever contacted Aaron was when he wrote something about hating Stephon Marbury last winter. Mostly, Aaron would not forgive Marbury for forcing a trade to the Nets. I couldn’t hardly blame Gleeman for being bitter. Built like a hockey puck, Marbury is powerful, has hops for days, and has a keen basketball mind. As much as I understood Marbury’s reasoning for wanting to play closer to home at the time, I knew he would have to live with the consequences of leaving an absoluetly great situation in Minnie. After all, part of why he left was because his ego couldn’t stand being the number two guy to Garnett.

A short while ago, Marbury was traded to New York, and he has made the Knicks worth watching again. The Brooklyn native is one of top three or four point guards in the NBA, and is the best guard the Knicks have had since Clyde Frazier. I’ve followed Marbury since he was a senior at Lincoln High and am a big fan, as well as one of his toughtest critics. I loved it when he was paired with Garnett on the Timberwolves, and was even happier when I could watch most of his games after he came to New Jersey. Like the man he replaced on the Nets, Sam Cassell

What will happen to the Yankee organization when George Steinbrenner passes away? That’s the $64,000 question for the Bombers, not “When will Joe Torre Leave (or be asked to leave).” This was something I thought about a lot last season, well before Steinbrenner’s fainting spell at Otto Graham’s funeral. I’ve been waiting for the local media to take up the issue, and yesterday T.J. Quinn did just that in The Daily News:

Throughout the organization, sources say they have begun to see signs of age from the Boss, like the now-famous story of how he fired an employee one day and then demanded to know why that person was not at work the next. Some friends say he can veer off into strange tangents during conversations, although they note that his was always a volatile personality.

Personally, I started getting suspicious when George burst out crying after the Yankees beat the Red Sox last summer.

George King has a piece on the progress of Steve Karsay, the right-handed relief pitcher who had shoulder surgery last May. If the 31-year old Queens native can return to his old form this year, the Yankees may just have a very good bullpen.

It’s a wrong situation. It’s getting so a businessman can’t expect no return from a fixed fight. Now, if you can’t trust a fix, you can you trust? For a good return you gotta go bettin’ on chance, and then you’re back with anarchy. Right back inna jungle. On account of the breadown of ethics. that’s why ethics is important. It’s the grease mkaes us get along, what separates us from the animals, beasts a burden, beasts a prey. Ethics. Wheras Bernie Bernbaum is a horse of a different color ethics-wise. As in, he ain’t got any.

The Red Sox are going to win the World Serious this year. Oh, haven’t you heard? With each passing year, we hear this more and more. The beauty part is the Red Sox are getting better and better every year, so it is not a completely ridiculous boast. There is no doubt that Boston will (deservedly) be picked by many experts to at least make it to the Serious (they just resigned Trot Nixon to a three-year deal). So, something has got to give, no?

They will have to win it one year, won’t they? Some Yankee fans bank on the fact that they haven’t won it in so long, it means that they’ll never get over the hump now. I feel that because it’s been so long, they have to turn it around eventually. They have to win it just once, right? Unless you believe in things like curses, of course they do. Tyler Kepner has a good piece in The Times today about the mounting expectations New England has for its first baseball championship since WWI in light of the Patriots second title in three years. The enthusiasm isn’t restricted to Boston’s often fanatical rooters either. It is now being generated by their owners too:

“We have finished second six years in a row,” John Henry, the principal owner, wrote in an e-mail message. “We haven’t won a championship in 86 years. Given that we have undoubtedly the most ardent fans in baseball, this is our mandate. We can leave no stone unturned. It’s a real-life Arthurian quest. It’s an epic saga that plays out over every single day, 365 days a year, in Boston.”

A bit of self-importance you say? What would you Yankee fans know about that?

Henry concludes that if and when the Sox win it all:

“There will be the longest celebration in the history of baseball over a Red Sox world championship,” Henry wrote. “That is one thing we can be sure of.”

I wonder what Chicago fans would have to say about that? I’m sure they would probably roll their eyes and say, ‘That’s Boston thinking it’s better than everyone again.’ Are Red Sox fans more special than White Sox fans or Cubbie fans? You tell me. Are they even more special than Yankee fans? Are the Sox a more important team once they’ve finally won a championship again, or does their carefully constructed myth go, thhhhpppt in the night? I don’t think they are better or worse than anyone else. But Sox fans are certainly unique, and display a brand of devotion to their team which may be unrivaled.

Will the celebration in Boston be something memorable if and when the Sox win a championship? There is no question about that. However, some Red Sox fans will try and convince you that their one championship will be more meaningful than all of the Yankees’ championships put together. It’s a natural enough rationale if you are looking at it from a Red Sox point of view. But tell me, would you rather have watched your team won four times in the last eight years or just once? Will Red Sox fans be satisfied enough after they’ve won a Serious so that they won’t want them to win again the following year?

Still, Red Sox, like their Chicago brethern, will experience something much different than what Yankee fans feel when their team wins. New York fans expect the Yankees to win, while Red Sox fans (and Cubs and White Sox fans) expect their team to lose. When Boston to finally wins it, it will seem like something extraordinary for their fans. Rightfully so. Yankee fans won’t be able to relate. The feeling Sox fans will own will be sweet and different from anything Yankee fans know. But to say that it is better (or worse for that matter) is grandiose-thinking at its finest. After all, Sox fans will never know what it is like to feel what Yankee fans do either.

As a Yankee fan I love to hate Boston and root againt them during the year. (They are as easy to hate as I’m sure the Yankees are for Sox fans.) But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m not curious to witness what a championship would do to Red Sox Nation, and how it would effect the Myth of the Sox as the long-suffering Good Guys. I hope it doesn’t happen this year or next year, but if you combine my natural sense of superstition with the fact that the Red Sox are simply a good team, I won’t be surprised when it does happen.

I want to thank everyone who stopped by and joined the Curt Schilling-Sons of Sam Horn discussion yesterday. It was lively stuff, and a great way to keep warm as we await the start of spring training. There was also a good thread on Baseball Primer, and Boston Dirt Dogs has a link to the SoSH Schilling chat. (Much of what Schilling has to say is engaging; he’s especially insightful when talking about the nuts and bolts of his profession.) Here is what Schilling said about wanting his comments to be off the record (thanks to Jeter’s #1 fan for the information):

Got no problem with BDD [Boston Dirt Dogs] posting this stuff to his site, but as I have asked before I would ask members of the media to keep this stuff here. If you are in the media and really actually care about this kinda thing then you will have 7 months to actually ask me any of these questions if you want, no problem.

To be sure, there will be plenty more on this issue to come (the Dirt Dogs have already come out swinging). For starters, head over and see the terrific post Edward Cossette has up today at Bambino’s Curse.

A federal judge ruled in favor of Maurice Clarett yesterday, stating that the NFL’s policy prohibiting young players from entering the draft violates anti-trust laws. The NFL will appeal the decision but it’s likely to stand. I’m not especially fond of Mike Lupica’s work anymore–though I grew up on the stuff–but I think he hits the nail on the head this morning. Curt Flood’s name is sure to be mentioned in relation to this case. If anyone catches an especially interesting Flood analogy, I’d appreciate it if you could e-mail the link to me.

A few days ago, David Pinto ran a post covering Curt Schilling’s critique of Rob Neyer, which originally appeared on a Red Sox site, Sons of Sam Horn. Pinto excerpted a good portion of Schilling’s comments. Yesterday, I noticed that Pinto was asked by Sons of Sam Horn to remove Schilling’s quote:

I have been accused of being unethical in using a quote from Schilling that Schilling had declared to be off the record. (See comments below). For the record, the off the record comment was at the beginning of the thread, and I didn’t see it. I have removed the quote at the request of Eric of SoSH.

However, I do not buy Eric’s argument that what Schilling says is off the record. It’s a publicly viewable web site. Schilling does nothing to hide his identity. What Curt has is a forum in which he can criticize and not be criticized. That seems a bit unfair to me.

Apparently, Eric is more invested in protecting his newfound relationship with Schilling than he is in journalistic ethics himself. I think he’s way out of line accusing Pinto–one of the most respected and conscientious bloggers on the Net—of being unethical. But while I certainly don’t agree with him, I understand Eric’s position. I can only imagine how much traffic Schilling brings to Sons of Sam Horn. However, if Curt Schilling believes that what he posts on the Internet should be considered “off-the-record,” well then either he is stunningly naive, or even more arrogant than I previously imagined.

Last night I did a segment for Will Carroll’s BP Radio show with Steven Goldman, Joe Sheehan and Jay Jaffe. (The show will air this weekend.) What do you think we talked about? New York baseball, of course. But when the show was over, we chatted for another couple of minutes and I asked the guys if they thought Ellis Burks’ return to Boston was in part, racially motivated. They all assured me it was strictly a baseball decision. That doesn’t come as a surprise and I think they are correct. Still, I will be curious to know what Burks makes of Boston in 2004.

I’ve been thinking a whole bunch about Ellis Burks returning to the Red Sox today. When I got home this evening, I broke out Howard Bryant’s book, “Shut Out,” and revisited Burks’ formative years in Boston:

[Jim] Rice never spoke out, but he gave Ellis Burks a telling peice of advice that provided important insight into Rice’s feelings about Boston and his years with the Red Sox. They were words Burks would never forget. “Get your six years in, “Rice told Burks, “and then get the hell out of Boston.”

Sure enough, Burks had a difficult time with the Sox. For a black player, that was nothing new. When Rice was let go, Burks felt isolated, and frustrated. Like many a young black center fielder who possessed both speed and power, Burks was expected to be the next Willie Mays. (Bryant explores this phenomenon in further detail.) But he was just Ellis Burks. To make matters worse, his manager Joe Morgan questioned his conditioning and effort. Bryant continues:

Burks could never find comfort with the city’s polarized structure. Some teammates had warned Burks about the city’s social climate. It was Boyd who first told Burks about avoiding South Boston, the busing hot zone. “Oil Can told me to stay out of there, if I valued my life. I didn’t believe it, that you would drive through there and have various names hurled at you and rocks thrown at your car. It never happened to me, because I didn’t go there.” He knew the team had suffered from a poor rapport with black fans and resolved to make inroads with the city’s black community…

He went to Foggie’s Barber Shop on Tremont Street, the epicenter of the Boston black community. Burks recalls frequently appearing on WILD, the city’s lone black radio station, appealing for fan support. He was shrewd in his requests. Instead of creating a possible racial firestorm by asking balck fans directly over the air to come support the team, he knew WILD’s consituency was predominately black. “I used to say, ‘let’s have some WILD listeners come on out to the ballpark.’ I was too mart to say it the other way. But hell, there was no response. I learned that early in my time in Boston. Black people don’t go to Red Sox games. No matter what we did. We tried giving those tickets away. Couldn’t do it.”

The pace and the character of the city at time unnerved Burks. Peter Gammons would drive to Fenway with Burks. One day when the two stopped at a red light, people yelled at each other during the forty-five seconds between light changes. Bostonians gunned their engines as fast as they could in between stop lights.

“You know how in New York people hit the horn the second the light turns green?” Gammons told Burks. “Well, in Boston, they hit the horn while it’s still red.”

I wonder if the current Red Sox ownership is trying to kill two birds with one stone in bringing Burks back to Boston. First, they get a viable right-handed bat off the bench. Next, they prove that the new Red Sox are different from Boston regimes of the past. And they get to prove it by bringing back a clubhouse guy who had it rough as a young player in Boston. The circle is complete. It should be interesting to see what Burks’ impressions of the city and the team will be all these years later.

Managers and general managers have come and gone with regularity during the Steinbrenner Era in New York. But Brian Cashman and Joe Torre are special. If Torre gets fired this season–or if he chooses to leave at the end of the year–there will be much written about what a huge loss it will be for the Yankees. (There will be fantastic wailing for weeks.) And to a large extent, I think it will be a big loss. But instead of moaning about how George could have let it happen, how he could let his ego get in the way of a great thing, we should take that time to stand back in amazement that Torre lasted as long as he has in the first place. (I understand that George didn’t have much of a cherce, what with Torre winning four World Championships, but still, this is Steinbrenner we are talking about.)

Brian Cashman hasn’t been sainted by Yankee fans and the New York media in the same way that Torre has, but he’s been a marvel in his own right. (When he finally does leave New York, he won’t have a tough time finding work.) Cashman was at a Hot Stove event in New York last night and had some candid things to say about where the Yankees stand going into the 2004 season. Tom Singer of mlb.com was there and filed this report.

When asked about the Red Sox being the favorites to win the East, Cashman replied:

“That’s fine with me. That means we have something to prove,” the Yankees’ general manager said, showing a square jaw to his audience. “We plan on selling our players on the fact they’re not getting any respect.

“We’ve tripped and skinned out knees, and now are supposed to fall apart. ‘It’s up to you to show that’s wrong.’ We’re going for the jugular.”

What about the notion that the Yankees can spend money ’til the cows come home?

“Having money to spend can make things more difficult,” he said. “It can be more difficult to handle high expectations. I’ve been in a position of telling George, ‘We don’t need to spend this, it’s too much extra, we’re fine where we are.’

“I’m probably the only general manager that’s ever had that conversation with an owner. But I run more risks. Someone else maybe can’t afford a $3 million mistake, but I’m after bigger game. I can’t afford a $10 million mistake.”

As a self-incriminating case in point, Cashman volunteered Jeff Weaver, who went 12-12 in a season-and-a-half in the Bronx before being dealt on to Los Angeles. Weaver was acquired in the first year of a four-year, $22 million contract he’d signed with the Tigers.

“I thought he had the right mentality to handle pitching in New York, but I was wrong on that one,” Cashman said. “That turned out to be a $10 million mistake.”

Ellis Burks started his career with the Red Sox, and was another in a long-line of black players who ran into difficulties in Boston. But now Burks is returning to the Sox as a bench-player and clubhouse guy. According to Edward Cossette, this is a sign of how far ownership has come in Boston; at least the current group is conscientious.

The Yankees are collecting decent-hitting third basemen who aren’t any great shakes with the leather like they are going out of style. They have already invited Tyler Houston to spring training and according to the AP, now have a deal in place to land Mike Lamb from the Rangers for minor league pitcher Jose Garcia. Hey, maybe Mattingly can get in a couple of games at the hot corner too.

I’ve heard it through the grapevine that the Yankees have also invited Joe Girardi to camp too. Evidently, if the 39-year old offensively-challenged catcher doesn’t make the team—which is highly likely—he has a job waiting for him the YES Network broadcast booth. I’ve heard this story from several people (including Rob in the comments section of yesterday’s post), but I didn’t find any mention of it in the papers this morning. (If anyone comes across a link, let me know.)

Either way, it’ll be great to have Joe G back. Built like a hockey puck, Girardi is hardly effete, but he seemed to have an almost maternal presence when he was the starting catcher for the Yankees. (I’ll always remember how he protectively pulled David Cone down before the pile-on crashed over them after the final out of Cone’s perfect game.) Girardi looks like a distant cousin of Yogi Berra’s, but for some reason he reminds me of Chico Marx. Attsa fine.

Meanwhile, in the latest chapter of The Pinstriped Bible, Steven Goldman addresses Curt Schilling’s recent critique of Rob Neyer. Schilling is not alone in thinking that performance analysts like Neyer–who are removed from the daily grind of the clubhouse beat–aren’t exactly astute judges of just how good players really are. Goldman thinks this line of thinking is false:

In truth, being a clubhouse scribe does not automatically confer any great wisdom; like any other occupation, the members are a mixed bag. On any trip to the Yankee Stadium locker room, one can observe many writers, some of them quite notable, hustling for interviews, trying to build a rapport with the players, cajoling their reluctant interviewees into giving them something worth passing on to their readers. There is a second, larger group of writers, whose approach to the job seems to be to mill about in the center of the clubhouse hoping that Derek Jeter punches out Alfonso Soriano. Similarly, there are members of the analytical school who have something valuable to say and some who don’t.

Schilling complains that Neyer “talks about the numbers as they pertain to future performance almost as if it’s an absolute

Ben Thacker examines what the Yankees pitching rotation will look like without any lefties this year. Head on over to NYYFans.com and give it a look.

While you are at it, welcome Steve Bonner—longtime reader of Baseball Musings and Bronx Banter—to the blogging universe, and check out his new site, “The Midnight Hour.” He starts things off on the good foot by considering what we can expect from Jason Giambi this year.

DrewHenson is leaving the Yankees to play football. According to Mark Hale in The New York Post:

Henson had three years and $12 million left on his six-year, $17 million pact with the Yankees, and he will reportedly forfeit all $12 million. He was due $2.2 million in 2004, $3.8 million in 2005 and $6 million in 2006.

Henson was a boffo Steinbrenner signing that went bust. I’m sure everybody involved is relieved that it’s over. Like Joe Sheehan and others, David Pinto thinks the Yankees may want to take a chance on minor-leaguer Brian Myrow:

The big question continues to be how the Yankees will fill the gap at third base. As people have pointed out in the comments on this post, Brian Myrow may be the Yankees best option. He’s older (seasonal age 27 in 2004), but he’s a walk machine. Twenty seven is peak age for ballplayers, so if you are going to get a great year out of a career minor leaguer, this would be the year. Let him bat ninth, set the table for Soriano, and see what happens. If nothing else, the Yankees will save a few million dollars.

Myrow? Why not? What have the Yankees got to lose by giving him a shot during spring training?

1. The Super Bowl proved to be an entertaining affair yesterday. Congrats to the Pats. (How long before the “Yankees Suck” chant begins, or has it already started?) You think Tom Brady will run for public office when his playing days are over? I think he might be the most suitable-looking Boston star since Carlton Fisk.

2. Speaking of the ol’ pigskin, it appears as if the Yankees and Drew Henson are close to parting ways. According to ESPN:

Henson could reach an agreement with the Yankees as soon as Monday night to settle up on the $12 million he’s guaranteed over the next three years so he can pursue NFL offers.

Let me join the inevitable chorus of Yankee fans when I say, “Well, it’s about time.”

3. Buck O’Neil and Don Zimmer were featured players in Gordon Edes’ “Notes” column yesterday. You’ll like what Popeye had to say about his run-in with Pedro Martinez in Game Three of last year’s ALCS:

“Pedro took some heat that he shouldn’t have taken,” Zimmer told the St. Petersburg Times. “They say, `Well, Pedro beat up an old man.’ Pedro didn’t beat up an old man. An old man was dumb enough to go after him. Pedro didn’t do nothing wrong, as far as I’m concerned, and doesn’t owe me an apology. I went after him, and I apologized to everybody for what I did. And I let it go at that.’ “

4. Peter Gammons previews the AL East in his latest column and argues that the Blue Jays could make things tough for the Yanks and Sox:

The Jays may not be able to duplicate their 2003 offense, but even if they lose Carlos Delgado after this season, Toronto has the core of a consistent contender with a perennial MVP candidate in center in Vernon Wells and a lot of high-ceiling kids that will be in the wings at Syracuse: catcher Francisco Quiroz, outfielders Alexis Rios (Puerto Rican League MVP), Gabe Gross and John-Ford Griffin, infielders Russ Adams and Aaron Hill. They now should be able to be in position to contend for the next four years.

In case anyone missed the comment section from my Sunday Post, here is a tidbit that should please Yankee fans:

Jason Giambi has lost 25 pounds and is clearly focused on coming back from the knee surgery and proving he can play first base.

The last time Giambi played 140 games at first base was 1999. But the way the Yankees are now constructed, they work best if he plays close to that number at first this year. Suffice it to say, there is tangible skepticism around baseball about his ability to stay healthy enough to do that, no matter how much weight he has lost or how good he is said to look.

“If he has to play in the field full time, he’s going to get hurt,” says one AL scout. “You can take that to the bank.”

Hmmm. Lots to be worried about with Giambi, but since I love his game so much, I gotta remain hopeful.

5. Finally, Rich Lederer has an good piece on future Hall of Famer Gary Sheffield over at Rich’s Weekend Baseball BEAT.

In all, I hope there is a little something for everyone this morning, whether you are hung-over but have somehow managed to trudge in to work, or if you took the day for yourself and are molding-out at home. Hey y’all: fifteen days ’til pitchers and catchers.